Organize 365 Podcast

There is nothing more frustrating than nervously watching a tragedy unfold before your eyes and feel like there is nothing you can do to help. The hours I have spent the last month reading articles, watching video clips, and following friends on social media who are going through natural disasters is mind blowing. This nervous energy eats me alive. I want to DO something. Ironically in Cincinnati, Ohio, we have very few natural disasters. A stray tornado or big snow storm, but nothing like the fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes I 've watched in the last month. Even so, emergencies in general are a guarantee in life. Someday you will need to have your medical and financial ducks in a row to facilitate your care or the care of a loved one. This week in the podcast, Betsy shares her Houston Hurricane story, and I share how you can organize your important documents and help the autistic community at the Avondale House School in Houston, Texas. The Avondale House is a resource for the special needs community in Houston and a school for children with autism. For the rest of 2017, when you purchase the medical and financial organizers through this link, 100% of the sale will go to the Avondale House School. The financial and medical organizers are editable PDFs so you can store your information digitally or they can be printed and put in a binder – it's your choice! These organizers collect all your important information so you don't have to hunt through your filing cabinet or wish you could take the whole thing with you if you have to evacuate. This will really help you in an emergency situation, whatever that situation may be. 100% of the proceeds from sales of my medical and financial planners will go to Avondale House. This is a "win-win" situation as you get these two great organizers AND you get to donate to such a great cause. If you would prefer to not purchase the planners, but would rather donate directly to Avondale House, you can do so here. One thing you will never hear me say is, "It 's just stuff." I know better. Physical items can be replaced, but it does not minimize the pain and inconvenience of doing so. I hope you are reading this in a house with running water, a working sewage system, and electricity Like I said in the podcast, my own medical and financial organizers were not filled out, but I am doing it now. I don't want to, and I don 't "have the time," but I know... one day I will be glad I did. Prayers to everyone in the path of these natural disasters. View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/194

When is the last time you took a hard look at your afternoon and evening routines? We hear A LOT of people talk about their morning routines. (I shared details about my morning routine last week.) It's also quite common to hear about evening routines. But, I've hardly ever heard anyone talk about afternoon routines. For me, my afternoon routine... or rather, my after-school/after-work routine... is really key to my productivity. In this week's podcast, I dive into my afternoon and my evening routine. Afternoon Routine When I talk about an afternoon routine, I am referring to the time of day when we are transitioning from work responsibilities back to our family responsibilities. Personally, my afternoon routine is currently going through changes as my children are getting older and are no longer relying on me for rides home from school and to their various activities. As such, I find myself with more time to work in the afternoon. For quite some time, my work day ended at 2pm when I left to pick up the kids. If I'd done my work for the day by 2pm, that was a good day. Any work that I got completed after 2pm was what I called "bonus" work! As the kids have gotten older and more self-reliant, I have been able to carry on with work, if needed, from 3:15pm (when I get home from picking them up) until 5:30pm. Yes, I do work a lot! If I don't have work to do at this time, I sometimes take a nap. This year, I have help with my kids' school pick up and my son will be driving, which means my work day will be 8am to 5pm. Whether your work day ends at 2pm, at 5pm, or whenever, here is one daily routine I recommend you follow during the last 20 minutes of your work day: Tidy Up – Take a few minutes to organize your work space. Coming in the next day to a tidy area will get you into the right mindset. Calendar – Look at your calendar for the next day and get an idea of what you currently have scheduled. To-Do List – Go over the list of goals you have set for the week and figure out which items need to be completed the next day. Write It Down – On either an index card or a legal pad, write down your tasks for the next day in the order you need to complete them. Remember to always TRUST the schedule you made the day before! The impromptu coffee run sounds good in the moment, but your rational mind says otherwise. Following this afternoon routine today will set you up for a successful tomorrow. Then, 5:30pm to 7:30pm is the time I have set aside to spend with my husband and kids, but I also have time set aside to do other important things for myself. Here are some of the things that I like to do as part of my afternoon routine after I've spent valuable time with my family: Clean the Kitchen – I like to ensure everything is clean and put away in the kitchen. (This is a new addition for me this year.) Plan Dinners – Take a few minutes and decide what to make for dinner the next day. This saves you from scrambling to figure it out the next afternoon. Pack the Car – Look at the schedule you made for the next day and place anything you need for tomorrow in the car. For example, dry cleaning that needs to be dropped off. That is my afternoon routine and I think it's the key to my productivity. Evening Routine From 7:30pm to 9pm, everyone in my family likes to enjoy some alone time. I tend to head upstairs to my office and continue working. But, the work that I do at this time is work that I really enjoy doing and nothing too heavy. At 9pm, I start my bath and pick my clothes out for the next day. I try to keep my wardrobe pretty simple. Capsule wardrobes really interest me and I'm going to dive deeper into that idea in the fall. Around 9:30pm, Greg and I watch a TV show. (You'll need to listen to the podcast if you want to hear me run through my favorite programs right now!) No matter which small tasks you add to your evening routine to help the next day run smoother, make sure to take time to RELAX. Remember, at the end of the day, it isn't about what you didn't accomplish that day, it's about what you DID accomplish and how you impacted the people around you. It's all in the routine! Don't miss Lisa and Joey's bear, rope, and toaster Walmart trip in this episode! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/podcast/routines

Explore the power of personalized morning routines tailored for modern women. Delve into why conventional productivity advice often overlooks female perspectives. Discover how to streamline your mornings, with practical tips on meal prep, efficient time management, and embracing flexibility. Lisa emphasizes the importance of customizing daily themes to align with your unique energy and commitments. Don't settle for a one-size-fits-all approach—find your own rhythm and maximize your productivity!

Every year I tweak my morning & evening routines when summer ends and the kids go back to school. Here are 5 steps to create your own morning & evening routines. http://organize365.com/how-to-create-morning-and-evening-routines/

In this week's podcast, I take a look at the cost of clutter and disorganization in our lives. I think we all know that there is a cost benefit to leading a more organized life, but did you know that it's not just a financial benefit? A disorganized and chaotic life can bear many costs… let's look at the different costs that disorganization causes in our lives and the steps that you can take to make a difference. 1. Financial Cost Buying twice, losing things, items getting ruined, misplacing coupons that eventually expire… I don't think anyone would argue that there is a not a financial cost benefit to being more organized. 2. Mental Cost It can be mentally draining trying to remember all of the things that we are responsible for… getting the laundry started, doing the dishes, getting the kids ready for various activities, etc. We are constantly trying to remember and stay on top of things. The Sunday Basket™ is a HUGE help here. Personally, I like to make notes and jot down ideas all through the week and then go through them all together on a Sunday. I find 50% of the items in my SundayBasket™ are notes to myself. 3. Time Cost When disorganization creeps into your life, you lose time. You lose time looking for things. You lose time doing things on a whim. You lose time just trying to escape from your cluttered and disorganized situation by watching TV and playing on your phone. The funny thing is that while you know you are losing time, you don't have time to figure out where you're losing it. There is NO TIME! If you had the time, you could do a time study and really get to the bottom of how you can save time, but again… who has time for that?! I have done a time study twice and it was very depressing seeing the true reality of how much time I spent driving in my car and watching TV. We have a lot of demands on our time and, if you're not proactive in how you manage your time, you end up doing things on a whim and putting out fires. 4. Emotional Cost There was a study that concluded a direct link between families who have more clutter, disorganization, and unfinished projects in their homes with mood and cortisol levels. Basically, the conclusion is that there are health benefits to being more organized in the household, and the risks of not doing so include depression and a less satisfied marriage.Here is a link to the study. It's important to note that there's no right or wrong when it comes to home organization. Just like there is no perfect weight for a woman, or no perfect way to feed a baby, everyone has a different level of home organization that is right for them and makes them happy. Irronically, the more progress you make in some areas of organization, the more frustrated you get in other areas. This is completely normal and it just signifies a new level of organization that you expect. You have raised the bar and you now need to stay above that bar for your own peice of mind. So how do we make the change we want to see? YOU need to take action! It's really important to understand that you are in the driver's seat and the change that you require will not just happen to you, but rather by you. You need to make it happen . Don't wait for someone to come rescue you because, believe me (I've been there), that will not happen! There are two things that you need to do to help bring about the change that you want: 1. Change your mindset – Bring about the mental transformation to live a clutter-free, organized life. You are already doing this right now by reading this newsletter and listening to my podcast. 2. Physical change – For this, I have an exercise for you to do! To do the exercise, you need to listen to the podcast episode and hear me talk you through it. Trust me. All I will say is listen to the podcast episode when you are at home and have a piece of chalk handy! P.S. Registration is now open for my 100 Day Home Organization Program where I am with you every step of the journey to help you get your home and your life organized. Every week, I am there to encourage and motivate you, share stories, and help you reach your goals. You will make fast and lasting progress because of the way the program has been organized. You will also be with a group of like-minded ladies who are all on the same journey as you, taking action at the same time as one another in the same living spaces. Let me teach you how to expand your mind. I will show you how to be more productive,more proactive, and how to plan. You will take back your home and have time to live the life that you are supposed to live. The 100 Day Home Organization Program is an investment, but it's an investment in yourself. It will make home organization your new priority. You will start to see a reduction in all of the other costs associated with disorganization and clutter. Register now! Registration ends on August 28th for the next session starting September 4th. And for those of you already registered... Congratulations! Please pass this on to ONE person you would love to do the 100 Day Home Organization Program with you! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/190

On last week's podcast episode, I introduced you to Holly, Monique, and Emily, the virtual organization teachers for my 100 Day Home Organization Program. (<--- Registration is open!) This week, I thought it would be a great idea to introduce you to one of the 100 Day Home Organization Program members. Wait until you meet Dawn! We had so much fun recording the episode and giggling like school girls. Dawn first noticed me in 2015 when she was searching online for help with keeping her house clean. I would LOVE for you to tell me how YOU met me! Dawn has been using a Sunday Basket™ for about a year, having participated in the Sunday Basket™ virtual workshops, and she joined the 100 Day Home Organization Program in January, 2017. With 4 school-age kids with ages ranging from 6 to 15, Dawn is definitely in the survival phase of life. :) I was embarrassed to admit on air that I thought THAT was enough responsibility - the kids & house - and was SHOCKED when I found out she owned an electrical contracting business which she has been running with her husband for 14 years!! Dawn is responsible for the business bookkeeping and office staff, but her focus, productivity, and ability to even get to the office was derailed when she had her fourth child and couldn't keep up. Similar to myself, Dawn spends A LOT of time in her car. During the school year, she spends 3.5 hours per day in her car doing the school run for her 4 kids who are at 4 different schools. Dawn got my attention in the 100 Day Home Organization Program Facebook group for two reasons. First, her regular use of smiley face emojis. Second, she has goats. Lots of goats. I initially thought maybe one or two. Little did I know,she has over 35 goats?!?! With all this going on in Dawn's life, is there any wonder she looked for some help with getting her home organized? Dawn started the 100 Day Home Organization Program in January, 2017. First time around, Dawn admits she got distracted and didn't follow along. When she posted about this in the Facebook group, I swiftly moved her to the front of the class and helped her out. For anyone considering joining, know that the 100 Day Home Organization Program is not passive and I WILL make sure you do the work! Under my guidance and watch, Dawn organized her whole kitchen within 3 days. It went from a disorganized mess to super-organized. She went on to do her master bedroom, making a huge improvement to her house. The 100 Day Home Organization Program is something that you have access to for life and it is not designed to be done once. No one, myself included, could get through the whole program in one go at it. That is why it's a lifetime membership. When Dawn started the 100 day program for the second time, she signed up for the virtual organization package. In her first call with me, we decided to turn her dining room into her office... and she has never looked back. Dawn also shares how we worked together to fix her messy breakfast situation in the kitchen and how we sorted out her garage. If you sign up for the virtual organization package for the upcoming 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will get to work with Monique, Holly, or Emily, who I introduced you to last week. If you would like to sign up for the 100 Day Home Organization Program, registration for the September 2017 session opened TODAY! Click here. Check out my Facebook LIVE Friday afternoon to see my new garage shipping station I put together this week to mail out planners to those of you who register! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/189

In this week's podcast episode, I discuss how best to declutter and organize your closet. I discuss capsule wardrobes, how you can purge too much, and how you can have a variety in your everyday clothing while loving and wearing everything in your closet! I started this year with three episodes about the importance of decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity. In those episodes, I explained that when you reduce the amount of "stuff" you own and get it all organized, your productivity will increase. This will give you LOTS of extra time to focus on what you were meant to do in life. Productivity is a result of living an organized life. This week's episode builds upon those topics. So if you missed those episodes and would like to listen to them first, they are #144 – Declutter!, #145 – Organize, and #147 – Increase Productivity. What to buy? When I was in high school, my mother taught me some important lessons on how and what to buy when it came to clothes. Here are the tips she shared with me that I still find helpful today: "Cost Per Wearing" Analysis – Evaluate the cost of your clothing by how many times you think you will wear it. A $150 coat is worth the investment if you wear it 100 times, bringing the cost of the coat down to $1.50 per wear. Compared to a $15 "bargain" top that you only actually wore once, meaning the cost per wear is $15. The $150 coat was a far more economical investment. Buy In Outfits – Focus on purchasing items that are interchangeable. By focusing on a specific color scheme or style in mind, it will save you time and stress because everything will match. What to keep? Now that you have some ideas for how to shop for new clothes, what should you do with all of your existing clothes that are sitting in your closet? It's time for you to decide what needs to stay and what needs to go. Just recently, I went through my own closet to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. Here are the rules that helped me when decluttering my own clothes. Keep clothes that fit you – We all have that one item of clothing we are keeping until we can lose 5 pounds and it will fit once again. It NEEDS to go! You should only keep clothes that fit you and make you feel great. Don't keep clothes that make you feel like you should change to be able to wear them. Keep items that match each other – If it doesn't match anything else in your wardrobe so you have nothing to wear it with, it needs to go. It doesn't matter how cute or comfortable those shoes are if you are never going to wear them. No extra purses – Most women do the same with purses… we usually stick to one primary purse yet hold onto our old purses, telling ourselves we might one day need them. This ALMOST NEVER happens! Try to keep your everyday purse, as well as a particular favorite, and get rid of the rest. You really DON'T need them all. Types of wardrobes to consider... If you're looking to try something entirely new when it comes to organizing your wardrobe, there are a couple different options out there for minimizing your closet. Capsule wardrobe – This type of wardrobe limits you to a certain number of items per capsule (not including your under garments). You set the number to what you would like and you limit your wardrobe capsule to that number. Have capsules for work, seasons, or specific occasions, it's up to you. You can keep the rest of your clothes, but it takes the stress out of planning your day-to-day outfits. Uniform wardrobe – Many successful executives such as Steve Jobs, Barrack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg have utilized the uniform wardrobe. Clothes in this kind of wardrobe are all similar and interchangeable. For example, my wardrobe consists of mostly jeans, sweaters, and tops. Jeans match pretty much everything so it is easy for me to buy a large variety of tops to interchange with them. As parents, our wardrobes often fall to the wayside as we spend all of our time and money making sure that our kids (who are constantly growing) are getting the clothes that they need. I'm here to tell you that it's IMPORTANT to update your wardrobe, too. Instead of buying the occasional, random item for yourself on a whim, make a point of finding yourself something nice that matches your wardrobe. It's essential for you to look and feel good about yourself, too. Now that I have shared my ideas for decluttering your wardrobe, I challenge ALL of you to walk into your closet and come out with 15 items that you no longer need or want. This is a great first step towards getting your closet decluttered. By following my tips and getting your closet organized, you'll be able to get dressed quicker, feel better, and get on with living your best life. Now go declutter! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/186

I'm excited to announce that next week I'm running a Back To School Blitz. It's a 5-day challenge designed to help get you ready for a really productive fall and fully prepared for the new school year. So in this week's podcast, I talk all about the Back To School Blitz. Why run a Back To School Blitz? For me, the start of the school year signifies the start of my 12-month year. I discussed this in podcast 134 where I explained that I have 3 different "mini new years" in my year. It starts in September... the beginning of the school year, then January... the beginning of the calendar year, and finally June... the beginning of summer. Each has a different set of possibilities, but September has the most possibilities for me. It's when I set the BIG goals for my year ahead. In my opinion, it doesn't matter if you're not going to school, the beginning of the school year is when we should all get everything in order and set our goals for success. Productivity starts with being prepared. There are plenty of little things that we could do now to set ourselves up for a productive school year. So, my 5-day Back To School Blitz is designed to help set everyone up for a productive school year... whether you go to school or not! I'm more excited about doing it for myself than for my kids. What is the Back To School Blitz? It's a 5-day challenge that you need to sign-up for here. It's delivered to you by email. Every day at 5am EST, you will receive checklists via email. You should print a copy for everyone in your house who is taking part in the blitz. For example, I'll print off three... one for me and one for each of my two children. Since my kids are teenagers, I'll try and convince them to do the checklist themselves. Don't worry, the checklists are not lists of things to buy. In fact, my Back To School Blitz does not involve buying anything at all! Instead, it's all about decluttering, culling, and making inventories of what we have in our house so that in August we can go ahead and buy exactly what we need. This will stop you from over or under buying things. So here's what it involves: Monday: Clothing – Going through your closet and figuring out what you need, what needs altered, etc. Tuesday: Set up a command center – A back to school Sunday Basket™ that you will set up next week and continue to use thereafter. It will help you take note of the various things that need to be done before going back to school (i.e., supply lists, school uniform, car pool arrangements, etc.). Wednesday: Supplies – A supply list for your home or your home-based business. It's the best time of the year to stock up on things like pens, binders, highlighters, etc. Thursday: Personal grooming – Look at what you have and what you need. Schedule manicures, haircuts, other treatments, etc. Friday: What does it take to get this family out the door? – Backpacks, lunches, purses, car, etc. Since everything is delivered by email, you need to sign up. In addition, every day I will go live on Facebook at 10:30am EST to provide support and share additional tips and advice. Together, we are going to get our kids and ourselves ready for a really productive fall and new school year. Are you with me? View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/185

It's a rite of passage almost no one will escape: the difficult, emotional journey of downsizing your or your aging parents' home. Here, nationally syndicated home columnist Marni Jameson sensitively guides readers through the process, from opening that first closet, to sorting through a lifetime's worth of possessions, to selling the homestead itself. Using her own personal journey as a basis, she helps you figure out a strategy and create a mindset to accomplish the task quickly, respectfully, rewardingly—and, in the best of situations, even memorably. Throughout, she combines her been-there experience with insights from national experts—antiques appraisers, garage-sale gurus, professional organizers, and psychologists—to offer practical wisdom and heartwarming advice so you know with certainty what to keep, toss or sell. Downsizing The Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go

Doing laundry always seems like it takes a lifetime, doesn't it? But how long does it really take? For this week's podcast episode, I timed how long it took me to complete ALL of my laundry. Over the course of a weekend, I used a stopwatch and I timed from when I began a laundry task to when I completed it. By doing this, I was able to get an accurate idea of how long completing all of my household laundry really took. My Findings The truth is, the actual tasks involved in doing laundry didn't take up too much time. Every time I went into the laundry room to complete a task, I was usually only in there for about 5-8 minutes. So it really wasn't taking me very long. I discovered I was able to do 9 loads of laundry in only 61 minutes. BUT... and this is a big but... the 61 minutes were spread over 3 days. So I pretty much felt like I spent 3 days in my laundry room! So what I came to learn is that, while the tasks don't take very long, laundry can seem so much more time consuming than it really is because it occupies so many of our thoughts as we are doing it. I found I was always thinking about things like when the current load will be complete, whether I have gathered everything for the next load, where are the hangers, and so on. My Laundry Tips Fortunately, there are ways to save yourself both time and stress when it comes to your laundry. Here are my top tips for making laundry easier: Sort by weight – Instead of separating your laundry into loads by color, try separating them by how much each item weighs. Heavier items take longer to dry and lighter items take less time to dry. This will save you drying time on those little loads. Difficult load first – We all have that load of laundry that is just more difficult than the rest. Do your most difficult load of laundry first and this will make the rest of your loads less stressful. Multiple days of laundry – By spreading your laundry time throughout the week and doing some of the easier loads on weekdays (towels for example), you will save yourself time and stress on the weekends. Set a timer – Every time you start a load of laundry, start a timer on your phone. By setting the timer for 45-50 minutes, it will help prevent you from forgetting about the laundry and losing track of time. Of course, hiring someone else to do the laundry would be the ultimate time saver! This might not be an option for everyone, but it's definitely something to consider. There may be no perfect solution to doing laundry, but I would LOVE to hear your suggestions for making laundry quicker and easier. Please share your ideas in my Organize 365 Facebook Group. A special thank you to this week's podcast sponsor, TidyLiving! Use the promocode ORGANIZE365 to save 10% View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/183